| Large purple orchid | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Flowers | |
_-_white_cultivar.jpg) | |
| Whitecultivar | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Epidendroideae |
| Genus: | Spathoglottis |
| Species: | S. plicata |
| Binomial name | |
| Spathoglottis plicata | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Spathoglottis plicata, commonly known as thePhilippine ground orchid,[2] orlarge purple orchid[3] is anevergreen,terrestrial plant with crowdedpseudobulbs, three or four large,pleated leaves and up to fortyresupinate, pink to purple flowers. It is found fromtropical andsubtropicalAsia toAustralia and thewestern Pacific includingTonga andSamoa.
Spathoglottis plicata is an evergreen, terrestrialherb that forms tall clumps. It has crowded pseudobulbs 40–60 mm (1.6–2.4 in) long and 20–40 mm (0.8–2 in) wide, each with three or four pleated leaves 50–90 mm (2–4 in) long and 8–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) wide on a stalk 80–150 mm (3–6 in) long. Up to forty deep pink to purple resupinate flowers 35–55 mm (1–2 in) long and wide are borne on a hairy flowering stem 50–100 cm (20–40 in) tall. Thedorsalsepal is 20–30 mm (0.8–1 in) long and thelateral sepals are slightly narrower. Thepetals are about the same length as the sepals but significantly wider. Thelabellum is T-shaped, a similar size to the dorsal sepal and has three lobes with the side lobes close to vertical. At the tip of thecolumn there is a cap, under which masses of yellow pollen grains can be seen.
Flowering occurs from September to April in Australia and in most months inChina andNew Guinea. The fruit is acapsule about 3 mm (0.1 in) long, green and cylindrical. After the flower is fertilized, the seeds take about six weeks to develop. When ripe, the capsule splits open and thousands of tiny seeds are carried away by wind.[3][4][5][6][7]
Spathoglottis plicata was first formally described in 1825 byCarl Ludwig Blume who published the description inBijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië.[1][8][9] Thespecific epithet (plicata) is aLatin word meaning "folded".[10]
The large purple orchid is found inTaiwan, southernIndia,Indonesia,Japan,Malaysia, New Guinea, thePhilippines,Sri Lanka,Thailand,Vietnam, Myanmar, Australia, Tonga and Samoa. In Australia it occurs fromCooktown to theJardine River onCape York Peninsula. It grows in seasonally inundated and other moist areas, in sunny areas near swamps, seepages, and small streams. In Australia it flowers from September to April.[3][5][11]
Spathoglottis plicata was previously listed as "vulnerable" under theEnvironment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999[11] but was delisted in 2010.[12]
Spathoglottis plicata and its varieties have been cultivated and selected. The typical one has a bright purple flower. Some of them have mauve or pale mauve flowers. The rare pure white form is called ‘Penang White’. Due to its hardiness and fast growth,Spathoglottis plicata is cultivated and used in hybridizing with other mountainSpathoglottis that are difficult to grow in the lowland to produce more interesting varieties. The firstSpathoglottis hybrid was produced in 1932 byRichard Eric Holttum who crossedS. plicata withS. aurea and gave it the nameSpathoglottis 'Primrose'.[13] ‘Dwarf Legion’ is a hybrid of 'Primrose' andS. tomentosa, a dwarf form that produces many colours of flower, from pink to yellow, and pure cream.[14]Spathoglottis plicata needs to be grown in well-drained, well-aerated soil with the upper part of the ‘bulb’ above the ground level. Dilute manure water applied frequently is recommended.[15]
_capsule_dehisced.jpg)
Micropropagation ofSpathoglottis plicata Blume. and artificial seed production by alginate-encapsulation of PLBs was reported in 2017.[16]
Media related toSpathoglottis plicata at Wikimedia Commons